Xing marks the spot in new first-person exploration adventure

Written by Jack Allin — June 30, 2012 at 15:35

The recent flood of impressive sci-fi indie adventures continues with the unveiling of AYA Studio's Xing. 

Xing is a first-person adventure that strands you on an unknown island after crash landing your spacecraft. Though you're all alone, you soon discover "ruins and statues around the island that suggest a foreign civilization may have inhabited the island." That is only the start of the adventure, however, as through portals found in nearby caves, you'll be "transported to the land of Xing, comprised of fanciful structures and floating islands." The transportation systems still function, and by exploring the ruins of each island, you'll learn more about the ancient society, such as the culture's "emphasis on time control and puzzles within the advanced technology used to traverse the harsh landscape."

The lonely journey through beautiful, serene, puzzle-filled environments immediately brings to mind Myst and its ilk, but Xing's co-designer Koriel Kruer promises that the game will feature a "highly interactive environment" with an emphasis on exploration rather than "simply a string of puzzles".  The free-roaming, full 3D environments are also a change from the usual first-person puzzlers, being controlled with the standard keyboard/mouse combination.

While there is no firm timeline set for Xing just yet, the developers are hoping to complete the game by summer 2013, and are currently setting their sights on finishing a playable demo before year end. In the meantime, for more information about Xing, be sure to drop by the game's official website.